Great Arts and Crafts to Do at a Baby Shower

When you don't want your guests to be bored to death at your baby shower yet don't want to have the typical baby shower games, why not try baby shower arts and crafts? It gives the guests something constructive to do while at your party and makes a great gift for the baby, besides.

One of the more popular things to do at a baby shower is to decorate onesies. Choose plain cotton onesies and have an assortment of iron-ons, fabric pens, and various stencils to help make it less daunting for your guests. Make this fun craft more of a challenge by having an exhibit after everything and awarding prizes to the best onesies in various categories – most artistic, funniest, most colorful, etc. The prizes don't have to be big or expensive, a bar of chocolate is something that is appreciated by everybody.

Why not create a special cookbook for the mommy-to-be? You can pre-print sheets with blank lines for the ingredients and instructions and simply have the guests fill it up. There can be several categories to make as well, from baby favorites to children's snacks to healthy meals in twenty minutes. Gather all the pages together and with a few extra blanks, put them into a binder whose cover is beautifully decorated.

Another book that can be collectively created is an alphabet book for the baby. Select a pretty and simple font on your word program and print out both the capital and lowercase letters on parchment or onionskin paper. Cut out the letters carefully and position them in a corner of a sheet of card that has holes punched out at one side to bind them together after everything is done.

Have an assortment of colored pens and pencils out for the guests to decorate a page or two with a drawing of something that begins with the letter. When all the pages are decorated, arrange them together and thread a ribbon, a string of braided yarn, or even a prettily colored shoelace through and tie it together in a sturdy knot.

If you'd rather give something to the parents-to-be instead, why not decorate a pair of aprons? Plain butcher's aprons provide plenty of coverage and protection from any messes that a new baby or a stint in the kitchen can create. When the guests arrive, brainstorm a quote that would be appropriate for the mom and the dad. For example, the mom's apron could read, “Expect the Best” and the dad's apron could have, “Fathers Can Fix Anything!”

Then let everyone at the aprons with different embellishments and fabric paint pens. After each guest finishes decorating his or her corner of the apron, they can sign it for posterity. Take a picture of the parents wearing the creations and send a copy to each of the guests in your thank-you card or email.

It doesn't really matter what arts and crafts activity you choose to do at your baby shower. What's important is that you have all the supplies that you need ready so that your guests can get into it right away. It's the gift that counts most after all, and this is a gift that's been made with a lot of effort, thought, and love.